Debt servicing gulps N2.34tn in six months – DMO

PUNCH

Nigeria’s debt servicing spending slowed to N849.58bn in the second quarter of 2023, findings by The PUNCH have shown.

This was a decrease by 43.04 per cent compared to N1.49tn, which was spent in Q1 2023 on servicing debt.

According to data obtained from the Debt Management Office, between January and March 2023, Nigeria spent N874.13bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $801.36m (N617.35bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N1.24tn.

However, between April and June 2023, Nigeria spent N565.88bn on domestic debt servicing, and $368.26m (N283.7bn) on external debt servicing, a total of N1.24tn.

The exchange rate of the DMO, which was $1 to N770.38, was used for external debt servicing.

In six months, a total of N2.34tn was spent on servicing the country’s debt.

The PUNCH also observed that unlike the previous quarter, where Nigeria spent about $131.13m servicing loans from the Exim Bank of China, nothing was spent in Q1, 2023 on Chinese loans.

Despite the decrease in the cost of debt servicing, Nigeria’s total public debt hit N87.38tn at the end of June 2023.

The figure represented an increase of 75.29 per cent or N37.53tn compared to N49.85tn recorded at the end of March 2023.

The DMO, in a statement, said the debt included the N22.71tn Ways and Means Advances of the Central Bank of Nigeria to the Federal Government.